i kind of know where i'm going when i leave my apartment now

so, that's progress. i still get a little bit disoriented on campus, but at least i look like i'm walking confidently in a direction most of the time. that should count for something, i think.

quick update on the parking ticket situation: i got a letter from the city this week saying that they "respectfully decline" to rescind my ticket. i still did not understand. luckily, they also sent me what is apparently a super secret map that explains that the residential parking permit that is stuck on my car apparently doesn't work on ALL streets. in fact, it doesn't work on any of the streets on my block. THAT would have been handy to know over the course of the last couple of weeks, don't you think? i think that the woman who usually deals with parking permits was helping other people when i got mine and i had a woman who just popped up to the desk to help (my main clue was that she forgot to charge me until i was like, "um. . . i think i need to pay you for this. . . "). but still. these are things that should be given out with your parking permit. so, really i'm lucky that i only got one ticket.

quick update on my car window: i still have one. yay! who knew that could be such a cause for celebration?!

many people have been asking for pictures of the new place and i keep telling them that it isn't quite ready yet. it's still not actually complete (i am still in desperate need of an end table and a full-length mirror, but i've been really picky about matching the woodwork), but i'm starting to feel like people could be waiting forever if they wait until i'm done. so i'm including a few apartment pictures here.

the top pic is my entryway. my mom brought that rug to me in michigan and i think she did a great job finding something that goes with the colors of the apartment. and those are matt's flip-flops, not mine. i'm pretending that he's coming back soon enough that it's just not worthwhile to try to find a spot to put them away.

the next two pics are of the living room.  in the top, you can see the french doors that lead into my office. in the bottom, you can see the mantle that i have kind of fallen in love with. and that's the door to the entryway on the right. my bedroom and bathroom are opposite the office and entryway, respectively. it's all coming along, i think!

i'm going to try to get my office a bit more assembled this week. i finally carried all of my boxes into the psych building from my car. i was kind of wishing that there were some undergrads around to help me, i must say.  so, if i get things put together there, i'll try to take some pics of it as well.

i did have lunch last week with one of the postdocs from marilyn essex's lab. she was super duper nice. we have a lot of the same interests (including a love fortrying new things and just doing stuff with people) which is pretty great. AND, as luck would have it, she is also recently engaged and is planning a wedding for next october. what are the odds?!

otherwise, this week - which started out with tears and police reports and broken windows, turned out to be a lot of work and getting things in order. i went back to barriques over the weekend, which is the coffee shop that kristin's lab gave me a gift certificate for. it is seriously SO adorable. i really, really like it. they have delicious italian sodas, a breakfast menu that they serve from all day long, and really delicious veggie sandwiches. i'm still working on getting through the very generous gift card from the lab, but anyone can feel free to send more of those puppies my way for holidays, birthdays, expressions of love.

remember some time back in april when my to do list was something like; finish dissertation, pin down post-doc, plan course, graduate, teach course, move, start post-doc, plan wedding? i realized the other day how insane the last few months have been and how much has happened. now i suppose matt and i have to actually start pinning down details about the wedding. getting to that point seemed so far away not that long ago. i'm not sure if that's a testament to everything that has happened in the last 4-5 months or how quickly the next year will go. feel free to remind me of this post when i am blogging the week before the wedding.